


One or the Other

by Misty_Reeyus



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Bathing/Washing, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Hot Springs & Onsen, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 16:49:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18102521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/pseuds/Misty_Reeyus
Summary: “It’s scorching, it’s freezing, it’s scorzing!”





	One or the Other

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_of_Spirits_and_Bazongas/gifts).



Magilou didn’t get to try out the hot spring here in Meirchio the first time, having been distracted by Melchior’s sudden appearance just outside the town. But now that the old bastard’s dead as a doornail and their group is recuperating for the day after returning from the volcano, nothing’s stopping her. And she wants to have at least _one_ good soak before they all head back out.

So tonight, Magilou enters the women’s bath—and finds someone else already there.

Velvet is resting against the far edge of the spring, her back pressed loosely against smooth rock, her body submerged in water up to her shoulders. Matted strands of dark hair rather splendidly frame the curve of her jaw, and through the wisps of steam that surround her, her pale skin almost _glows_. Velvet makes for a beautiful sight, as usual—but this time, the true treasure is her expression: eyes closed, muscles slack, lips gently curled. She seems so relaxed that one could easily mistake her for being in a peaceful sleep.

Magilou instantly stills in the doorway, enjoying the view. It’s not often she gets to see Velvet so laid-back.

But after a minute, an impish grin creeps over her face, and Magilou quickly but quietly tiptoes over to Velvet’s side of the pool. Velvet still doesn’t seem to notice her presence, so once she’s close enough, Magilou silently drops her towel to the ground and readies herself by bending her knees.

“GERONIMOOOO!”

Magilou leaps into the water as she shouts, bracing her legs for impact against the shallow bottom—and the display that follows is _immensely_ gratifying. Velvet startles beside her, amber eyes snapping open and pink lips sputtering out a yelp of surprise, just in time for a wave to splash her right in the face. Velvet actually ends up _chok_ _ing_ on water for a few seconds, and Magilou straight-up cackles.

When Velvet recovers, her eyes are narrowed and her voice is a low growl. “Magilou…”

Velvet’s impending threat of retaliation aside, Magilou is already facing the consequences of her actions. Though the immediate surroundings of the spring are covered in snow, the actual water is _scalding_ , and while Velvet probably doesn’t feel it all that intensely due to being a daemon, every inch of Magilou’s skin now prickles painfully from having dived into such intense heat so suddenly. Still, Velvet’s reaction was absolutely worth it, so even as Magilou begins fidgeting in place in an attempt to adjust her body to the temperature, she can’t help but smirk.

“Letting your guard down?” she teases. “A rare state to catch you in.”

Oh, Magilou is just _asking_ for it now, and she’s fully expecting for Velvet to launch at her, deliver some sort of physical punishment that will likely involve drowning Magilou into submission. But…the attack never comes. Instead, Velvet just glares for a while before evidently letting it go, sighing as she falls back against her rock.

“Well, I can afford to relax a little here,” Velvet says with a shrug. “‘This city is ours,’ right?”

Her tone actually shifts with the quote, heightens in pitch to create what’s probably meant as an imitation of Magilou’s own voice, and Magilou gawks. Velvet _must_ be in a good mood, if she’s letting Magilou off the hook and also speaking fondly of that little show they both put on to drive off Meichio’s townsfolk. Magilou giggles now just remembering it—second best performance of her life, hands down.

(First place still definitely belongs to The Coo-Coo Incident.)

“True enough,” Magilou agrees, now stretching her arms over her head and hopping from one foot to the other in her continued efforts to get used to the heat. “It’s nice to have a new home base after Titania. And this one even comes with a _hella_ nice bath.”

Velvet’s only reply is an amused hum—and then, without warning, she stands and whirls. Magilou blinks as Velvet bends over, stretching out her arms to reach for something by the side of the pool, apparently unfazed by the fact that by doing so, she’s essentially _flashing_ Magilou. Perhaps that’s all according to plan, though, because Magilou is so distracted by the sight of beautiful bare breasts that she completely fails to notice Velvet scooping up snow in her hands before said snow is being dumped atop Magilou’s own head.

“Here,” Velvet drawls, a wicked glint in her eye. “This bath is clearly too hot for you. You’re turning red.”

Magilou shudders at the sudden chill, half-indignant and half-impressed at Velvet’s ploy. “And how is this better? Now it’s just too hot and too cold at the _same time_! It’s scorching, it’s freezing, it’s scorzing!”

“I do believe I told you before,” Velvet says, casually sinking back down into the water, “the term is clearly freeching.”

Magilou scoffs. “Now that’s just absurd. Scorzing sounds a bazillion times better.”

Velvet shakes her head, but incredibly, she doesn’t pursue the argument further. Magilou chooses to take that as a win, humming victoriously as she dips her head beneath the surface to make the snow melt away. Once she emerges, she opens her eyes to see Velvet grab the shampoo bottle from the side of the pool and then squeeze a dollop into her hand.

“Turn around,” Velvet orders. “I’ll get your hair.”

Magilou blinks at that. Really, Velvet is being strangely agreeable tonight, even outright _considerate_ —and now, Magilou suspects that it’s a direct result of what happened in the volcano. Magilou watched Melchior die, she helped Velvet kill him, and as utterly _satisfying_ as that was…it was difficult, too. Of course Velvet would understand, better than anyone else in their group, just _how_ difficult it can be to stand against someone you once saw as family.

If it were anyone else taking pity on her, Magilou would be offended. As is, receiving such treatment from Velvet simply makes her chest feel warm and weirdly _bubbly_.

Still, Magilou can’t pass up a perfect opportunity to tease, so she gapes in mock-surprise and covers her mouth with her hand. “What’s this? Are you being _nice_ to me? Who are you and what have you done with our vengeful Velvet?”

Velvet rolls her eyes. “This isn’t being nice. I’m just making sure you get all the filth out of your hair. I’m not sharing sleeping quarters with someone who looks and smells like a dirty little gremlin.”

An obvious excuse, and weaker than her usual ones. Honestly, it’s like Velvet’s not even _trying_ to disguise her kindness with cruelty anymore. Magilou chortles under her breath, but she obeys the earlier command, turning around and tilting her head back to let Velvet rub shampoo into her hair.

Strong hands massage at her scalp, thoroughly lathering her roots, and Magilou lets her eyes flutter closed as the touches send pleasant tingles rolling down her spine. Afterwards, Velvet slowly combs lithe fingers through wet strands, then lifts the entire dripping mass of Magilou’s hair out of the water to start scrubbing it with both hands. Her movements set a firm yet gentle rhythm that compels Magilou to relax, to lose herself to the comfortable to-and-fro, and Velvet’s hands feel so damn _nice_ that when they finally pull away, Magilou can’t help giving a soft little whine at their absence.

Velvet chuckles at her. “Okay. Rinse.”

Magilou takes a deep breath before submerging herself entirely, and after waiting to the count of thirty, she stands back up to full height. Which, admittedly, is not all that tall, seeing as the water level still reaches all the way up to her lower ribs. Nevertheless, Magilou spins back around as provocatively as she can, sweeping back her bangs to shoot Velvet a jokingly flirtatious look.

“Gonna take care of the rest of me, too?” Magilou asks, and cheekily wiggles her hips.

“You wish.” Velvet’s tone is flat, but the corners of her eyes crinkle with amusement as she grabs the soap and shoves it into Magilou’s hands. “Do it yourself. I’m leaving before my skin prunes.”

With that, Velvet hauls herself out of the bath, and Magilou gets one last good eyeful of naked, gorgeous bod before it’s all covered up by a towel. Velvet promptly strides out of sight, past the pool and towards the changing room, and Magilou pouts, silently mourning the loss of such a fabulous source of entertainment. But she originally came here to just enjoy the hot spring and she can still do exactly that, so Magilou lets her gaze fall to the soap in her hands, dunking the bar to wet it before starting to wash beneath her arms—

Something positively _frigid_ splats against her back, right smack dab between her exposed shoulder blades, and Magilou squeals. The soap slips from her grasp as her hand flies back to rub at the cold spot, and when Magilou whirls around, Velvet doesn’t even try to hide her culpability. She’s standing in the doorway, her unbandaged right arm outstretched in a throwing position, her lips curled up into a familiar shit-eating grin.

“Letting your guard down?” Velvet echoes smugly, and doesn’t give Magilou a chance to respond before she swiftly disappears into the changing room. Not that Magilou could have used such a chance anyway—all she can do right now is gape in disbelief that Velvet actually just threw a snowball at her.

But when Magilou eventually does snap out of her shock, she simply huffs out a defeated laugh, then begins feeling a foot around the bottom of the pool in search of the soap she dropped. She finds it quickly and picks it up with her toes, then bends at the waist to take the bar back in hand. As the water reaches up to her neck, the snow is washed from her back, causing two opposing sensations to briefly mingle on her skin once again.

Scorzing. Hot and cold at the same time. Truly, it’s an awful paradox—another loathsome case of fence-sitting.

…And yet, since it’s something Velvet made her feel, Magilou can only smile.


End file.
